Olympia Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Olympia, Washington 98501
Sunday, May 18, 2008 18:45 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane's engine lost power immediately after becoming airborne. The pilot landed straight ahead on the runway, but landed hard due to the lack of time and altitude for a proper flare. The airplane's left wing was structurally damaged, the firewall was wrinkled, the nose landing gear separated, and the two main landing gear were bent outboard. Postaccident examination of the engine by the pilot revealed that the carburetor's mixture needle had backed out, permitting the mixture to become excessively rich and resulting in a loss of power.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A total loss of engine power during takeoff due to the carburetor's mixture needle backing out.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/18/2008
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1845
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Olympia
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98501
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 465810N
Event Location Longitude 1225410W
Event Location Airport Olympia Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID OLM
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 209
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1854 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID OLM
Elevation of weather observation facility 209
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.98
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 25085
NTSB Notification Source NW FAA ROC
NTSB Notification Date May 18 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 23 2009 5:10PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Seattle, WA

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4276Y
NTSB Number LAX08LA145
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Babcock
Aircraft Model KR-2
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 1412
Certified Max Gross Weight 1050
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
Flight Crew Seats 1
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats 1
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Conditional
Date of Last Inspection Feb 14 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 290
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name William T. Walsh
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Olympia
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98501
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name William T. Walsh
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Olympia
Operator State WA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 98501
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code OLM
Departure City Olympia
Departure State WA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1843
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code OLM
Destination City Olympia
Destination State WA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff - initial climb
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 23 2009 5:10PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 26
Runway Length 4157
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --